This skirt was inspired by two accessories: these leather studded platform boots and these two leather cuffs, worn stacked together. I picked up the chunky leather cuff with silver studs at a now closed-down accessory place on St. Mark’s Place. The other bracelet wraps twice around the wrist and has gold studs, and was a gift from one of my best friends last Christmas.

Way before I got into vintage, I’ve been very much inspired by the music I listen to: glam rock and classic rock and roll. The whole look consists of leather, loads of black eyeliner, tights, unset hair, tattoos, and tons of attitude.

I drafted the pattern myself based on my bodice block. This is my first time working with faux leather, and it went along smoother than I thought it would. I did make the fatal beginner mistake of pressing down my seams with a hot iron, which absolutely melted the fabric so I had to re-cut one of the pieces again. I pressed the pieces down with a cold iron the next time around and it worked out well.

This skirt is very comfortable and it survived my second day of Fashion Week last year. Since then I’ve worn it several times (including to work). It’s a nod to the East Village, riding the L train late at night, listening to Bowie on your headphones while cutting fabric at 2 am, seeing your first runway show at Fashion Week, and evokes the energy that surrounds the city I live in.

About the Sew Weekly

The Sew Weekly began as Mena Trott's attempt to document the process of sewing all of her own clothes in 2010. In 2011, four other contributors (Debi Fry, Adey Lim, Veronica Darling & Sarah Gabbart) joined her and for 52 weeks, they sewed based on a particular weekly theme. In 2012, The Sew Weekly became a much larger group blog with over 130 contributors sewing along each week.